1-Acest articol este copiat !
2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1!
“Many were trampled when the cavalry and elephants attacked them at close quarters.”
While the Carthaginian army under Hamilcar was being organised, the rebels under Spendius were rushing to meet them. Spendius sent most of the rebels at Utica east and pulled away his force that had been guarding the Bagradas bridge, giving him around 25,000 men against Hamilcar’s 10,000. Hamilcar advanced on the bridge, looking to engage the rebels before the reinforcements arrived, but he now faced two rebel forces converging on him from the east and north, each slightly larger than his own army. The Carthaginian column marched with 70 elephants at the front, followed by heavy and then light cavalry, with the heavy infantry in the rear with several parallel columns.
As the two rebel forces approached, Hamilcar wheeled his army and marched away. His force was comprised of mostly new recruits, though he had spent much time drilling them in basic manoeuvres. The rebels saw this and assumed Hamilcar was retreating, so broke ranks themselves to pursue. Spendius now saw an opportunity to use the vast size of his army to trap the Carthaginians against the river with one of his forces and flank them with the other. When the rebel army got near Hamilcar, he ordered his heavy infantry to wheel around and prepare for battle, having the approaching cavalry and then elephants similarly wheel around the receive the rebel charge. The rebels now found that they were not chasing a frightened foe, but closing down on an organised army advancing on them.
In their jubilant charge the rebels had lost all cohesion, and their front ranks panicked when they saw the prepared Carthaginians and were easily routed. They found themselves blocked by their pursuing comrades who had not seen the change in Carthaginian position and so continued to press on assuming they were close to victory. This second group even came to blows with their fleeing comrades, and the rebel army was in complete disarray as the Carthaginians advanced on them. This chaos was only compounded when the Carthaginian force hit them, the elephants trampling over both those who were trying to flee and those who were still looking to advance through the growing confusion. The cavalry and elephants cut off swathes of the rebel forces and pinned them against the river, allowing the heavy infantry to advance to kill them. Light infantry spread across the battlefield behind them to pick off the stragglers and wounded, while the few escaping survivors made their way back to their camp at the bridge. Hamilcar gave chase, and the rebels barley paused in their flight before making for Tunis, taking the small garrison which had been left away from the battle as Spendius struggled to assert any authority over his disintegrating army. The rebels had lost around 6,000 dead and 2,000 captured, while Hamilcar had gained the initiative and the freedom to manoeuvre in his pursuit.
Hamilcar’s success saw him appointed co-commander alongside Hanno, though he had no intention of cooperating with his rival. When Hanno manoeuvred against Matho in the north near Hippo, Hamilcar attacked the various towns and cities that had defected to the rebels, winning them back to Carthage through a mixture of diplomacy and force. Throughout this he was shadowed by a larger rebel force, which kept to rough guard to deter his elephants and cavalry and harried his foragers and scouts rather then proffering battle. South west of Utica, Hamilcar moved to the mountains to attempt to bring the rebels to battle, camping in a mountain pass against the advice of his scouts. This proved to be a disastrous decision, as Spendius blocked the valley exit with his Libyans and then used the bulk of his rebel force to advance on the Carthaginian camp. Hamilcar was trapped with no hope of relief.
Without provisions, Spendius merely had to wait to starve out the Carthaginian force. However part of the mountain pass was guarded by the Numidian chieftain Navaras with 2,000 cavalry who, having familial ties to the Carthaginians, decided to defect. He approached the camp with a small escort undetected, signalled to parley, then entered the camp alone and was promised Hamilcar’s daughter as a wife for his defection. Navaras returned and then deserted the rebels at an agreed time, allowing Hamilcar to exit the trap.
Again frustrated, Spendius abandoned his harassing tactics and decided to proffer battle. Hamilcar engaged him in a brutal contest, and after a day of hard fighting the rebels were broken, with up to 10,000 killed and a further 4,000 captured. Hamilcar had turned potential humiliation and catastrophe into another stunning victory. Spendius and Autaritus managed to escape, and made for Hippo. Hamilcar made a clemency policy of allowing captured rebels to either join his army or return home, which Spendius identified as the reason for the Numidian defection. Fearing the disintegration of his army if such generosity continued, Autaritus encouraged Spendius to eliminate all sense of goodwill betwixt the sides by having 700 Carthaginian prisoners, including Gisco, tortured to death. They had their hands cut off, they were castrated, their legs were broken, and then they were thrown in a pit and buried alive. The Carthaginians responded with mutual animosity, killing their own prisoners. From then on, the war entered a phase when there would be no mercy shown by either side, and all prisoners taken by the Carthaginians were trampled to death by elephants. This unusual ferocity led Polybius to label the conflict as the “Truceless War”.
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